克拉按
除了抗日劇中的英雄可以手撕鬼子，電視劇還告訴我們被毒蛇咬傷後應該趕緊找人用嘴吸出毒液。如果有女孩問你：如果我和你媽媽同時被毒蛇咬了，你會先幫誰吸出毒液？你可以回答：都是一樣的，反正吸完了，我都會死。
事實上，被毒蛇咬傷後正確的做法，是找到該種毒蛇有針對性的抗毒血清。但可怕的是，毒蛇的種類太多，一般的醫院也不會存有所有種類毒蛇的抗毒素。所以科學家正在努力研究一種通用的「解藥」，可以解決所有種類的毒蛇咬傷。本文節選自《New Scientist》(V233 N3115)，作者 Sean O'Neill。
正文講解
難度係數 ★★☆☆☆
An antivenom only works for a handful of species at most. If you get bitten, you need to know what kind of snake it was and hope that someone nearby has exactly the right concoction to give you. If not, you’re in trouble. Surveys estimate that around 125,000 people die from snakebites every year. The true figure is probably much higher, biologist Nick Casewell says. 「Snakebite is a major problem, but the attention it receives is almost nil.」
一類抗蛇毒血清(antivenom)至多只能對一少部分(a handful of)種類的蛇毒起作用。如果你被咬了，你需要知道蛇的種類，並希望附近有人恰好能給你精準調配(concoction)的解藥。如果不能，你可就慘了。調查表明，每年有接近12萬5千人死於毒蛇咬傷。生物學家Nick Casewell說，真正的數字(figure)可能更高, 「毒蛇咬傷是一個嚴重的問題，但是這件事受到的關注度幾乎為零(nil)。」
Snakes can kill and maim in various gruesome ways, including by paralyzing the respiratory system or causing catastrophic tissue death. But more than half of deaths are the result of what Casewell calls 「blood disturbances」. That’s the speciality of the Gaboon viper. Symptoms include intense pain, internal bleeding and an extreme drop in blood pressure. Though its venom is not quite as potent as, say, that of a black mamba, Gaboon vipers have the longest fangs of any snake and the deepest bite, and can inject the greatest amount of venom.
蛇類可以通過很多可怕的(gruesome)方式使人類死亡或者殘疾(maim v.)，這包括麻痺(paralyze)呼吸系統(respiratory system)或者導致毀滅性的(catastrophic)組織死亡。但是Casewell稱，超過一半的死亡是由於「血液幹擾(disturbance)」。這就是Gaboon毒蛇(viper)的專長(speciality)。症狀包括：劇烈疼痛、內出血和極具血壓下降。儘管Gaboon毒蛇並沒有例如黑色樹眼鏡蛇(black mamba)那麼強(potent)的毒液，但是它有著所有蛇類中最長的毒牙(fang)，因此能咬到最深處，並且注射(inject)最大劑量的毒液。
知識點：say 這個詞可以表示「比如說」，用法很像such as
例句：克拉老師正在考慮買一輛像法拉利這樣的跑車。（活著還是要有夢想的）
答案：Clark is considering purchasing a sportscar, say, a Ferrari.
The team is working to identify the key toxins that make you bleed to death. Casewell will then immunise mice with them. The resulting antibodies should combat the lethal effects of any venom from half of all snakebites. 「If you’re bitten and you’re bleeding, this one antivenom should save you regardless of the snake,」says Casewell.
研究小組正在努力辨認這種能讓人流血致死的毒素(toxin)。Casewell將會給老鼠接種這種毒素，使之產生免疫能力(immunise)。所產生的抗體(antibody)應該能夠戰勝(combat)蛇毒的致命(lethal)毒性，這些抗體也將對世界上一半種類的毒蛇咬傷有效。Casewell說「如果你被咬傷並且流血了，這一支抗蛇毒血清將會拯救你，不管(regardless of)是哪種蛇的攻擊。」
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Inside the Venom Factory
An antivenom only works for a handful of species at most. If you get bitten, you need to know what kind of snake it was and hope that someone nearby has exactly the right concoction to give you. If not, you’re in trouble. Surveys estimate that around 125,000 people die from snakebites every year. The true figure is probably much higher, biologist Nick Casewell says. 「Snakebite is a major problem, but the attention it receives is almost nil.」
Snakes can kill and maim in various gruesome ways, including by paralyzing the respiratory system or causing catastrophic tissue death. But more than half of deaths are the result of what Casewell calls 「blood disturbances」. That’s the speciality of the Gaboon viper. Symptoms include intense pain, internal bleeding and an extreme drop in blood pressure. Though its venom is not quite as potent as, say, that of a black mamba, Gaboon vipers have the longest fangs of any snake and the deepest bite, and can inject the greatest amount of venom.
The team is working to identify the key toxins that make you bleed to death. Casewell will then immunise mice with them. The resulting antibodies should combat the lethal effects of any venom from half of all snakebites. 「If you’re bitten and you’re bleeding, this one antivenom should save you regardless of the snake,」 says Casewell.